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or his representative in regard to any matter on which the witness has been cross-examined. The respondent may at any time during his case put in any documents in evidence;

Fifth, the claimant or his representative will then be entitled to make a statement; and

Sixth, the respondent will be entitled to make the final

statement.

Any party to an arbitration is to be deemed to be entitled to give evidence as a competent witness.

It shall be competent for the tribunal to put questions to witnesses for the purpose of elucidating or testing their evidence, and to disallow any questions put to a witness in examination-in-chief, cross-examination or re-examination.

It shall also be competent for the tribunal to obtain the advice of an independent lawyer upon any question of law that may arise in the course of the proceedings, and at the request of the parties the tribunal may engage a legal or technical assessor.

21. All arbitrators and umpires shall conduct their proceedings in a judicial manner, and shall decide the matters referred to them according to the evidence adduced and the arguments addressed to them, and shall maintain complete independence and impartiality during the arbitration and in all matters relating thereto.

22. The tribunal shall make an award in writing, within ten days of the conclusion of the hearing, but shall be entitled in a case of complexity to extend that time for a further period of twenty days, and an umpire shall make his award within the same time, except that the time shall run from the date on which he is notified that the two arbitrators have failed to agree.

23. The award of the tribunal shall be made in accordance with the law of the country which is to regulate the construction, validity and performance of the contract, and in simple form, setting out-

(1) The matters referred to arbitration,

(ii) The award made in regard to each such matter, and (111) The award made in regard to costs.

Each member of the tribunal shall sign the award, in such form and in compliance with all necessary formalities to render it lawful in the country in which it is to be performed, and the burden shall lie upon parties to inform the tribunal as to any necessary formalities. 24. The tribunal may make at the request of the parties an interim award and a final award at the conclusion of the hearing.

25. The tribunal shall have power to order any party to pay all or any part of the costs, charges and expenses of any other party in reference to the arbitration, and also all or any part of the costs, charges and expenses of the arbitrators or umpire in reference to the arbitration, the hiring of accommodation for the hearing, and the making of award, and shall have full power themselves to fix and determine the amount of any such costs, charges and expenses.

26. In any case in which arbitrators or umpire think right, they may call upon parties to advance in equal shares or as the parties may agree a sum of money sufficient to cover what the arbitrators or umpire estimate may be their costs, charges and expenses in reference to the arbitration, and any money so paid shall be credited or repaid to the parties paying it when the award is made.

27. After an award has been published, the arbitrators or umpire making it shall notify all the parties to the arbitration that the award has been made and signed, and will deliver it to any party to the arbitration on payment of the costs, charges and expenses of the arbitrators or umpire, and the award shall contain a provision that if any party in the first instance pays any sum which the award provides shall be paid by another party, the other party shall reimburse the said party.

28. An award shall be final and binding except so far as the contract may provide for appeal.

29. The death, resignation or inability of an arbitrator or umpire to act shall not invalidate the arbitration, but a successor shall be appointed within one month of such death, resignation or inability in the same manner as the arbitrator or umpire was appointed, and the arbitration shall continue de die in diem within the discretion of the tribunal.

4th May, 1938.

COURTS OF CUBA

Information obtained from Cuban legal authorities, reveals that the decision of Cuban Courts of First Instance are not

published, and any data pertaining thereto must be obtained directly from the records of the Court, according to the Office of the American Commercial Attaché, Habana.

The Courts of First Instance are presided over by one Judge only and their decisions may be appealed to the Court of Appeals (Audiencia) which is composed of three to five Magistrates. The decisions of the Court of Appeals may be taken before the Supreme Court, insofar as matters of law are concerned, but the facts of the case are not subject to review.

Judges of First Instance take cognizance of Civil cases only for amounts of over $500. Cases where amounts of less than $500 are involved are heard in the Municipal Courts and on appeal, before the Courts of First instance.

COMMERCIAL LAWS FORUM

THIS IS FOREIGN TRADE MONTH, during which a week is set aside to arouse wide public discussion of the place of our export and import trade in the national economy. Most readers of this journal need no education on this subject. Many may not see the need of joining personally in this celebration.

GRANTED, HOWEVER, THAT THE PUBLIC consciousness of international commercial movement must be stimulated at regular intervals, it is easy to show why each person directly or remotely concerned should help promote the movement. Do you this, reader: pinch-hit for one who may omit or neglect to join in.

The Comparative Law of Bankruptcy (LE DROIT COMPARE DES FAILLITES ET DES CONCORDATS) is the subject of a new Supplement of the ANNALES DE DROIT COMMERCIAL ET INDUSTRIEL, the international review founded half a century ago by Thaller and now directed by Professor Percerou. The Bankruptcy Supplement will be edited by Dr. K. H. Nadelmann, who recently visited the United States to confer with specialists in this field here regarding the project. Number 1 of this Supplement has

reached the Division of Commercial Laws, carrying an announcement of the research, with a foreword by Phanor J. Eder, Esq., of the New York Bar. In addition there are notes on Germany, France, and the conference at The Hague. The publisher is the Librarie Arthur

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COMPARATIVE LAW SERIES FOR JUNE will feature a study of the Export Trade Act (Webb-Pomerene Law) by Dr. James L. Brown of the Division of Commercial Laws. The text of the Act and excerpts from various anti-trust laws will be appended.

FOREIGN LAW COMMENT

DENMARK

Torts, Liability of Publishers.*

The new Danish press law, which has been effective since July 1, 1938, while signifying no outstanding departure from the principles of former legislation, nevertheless differs from the earlier law on a few points which are deserving of mention.

The new law distinguishes between periodical publications printed in Denmark and all other publications, including periodical works not printed in Denmark.

With regard to publications which cannot be included in the first category, that is periodical publications printed in Denmark, the general rules of liability under Danish law apply, though with the modification that only those persons who assist in the publication or distribution of the work can be held liable as accessories, and not those persons who undertake or assist in the printing of the work. It is now an unconditional rule that the name of the editor shall appear in all periodical publications. The editor is defined as the person who controls the contents of the publication. The editor, therefore, is responsible for the contents of the periodical publication, but as a general rule he is exempt from liability if the article is printed under the author's name. If the author of an article reveals his name, the rule is that he is liable, but the editor is not relieved of responsibility if the article is written at his request, or with his assistance or to his knowledge with the assistance of a member of the staff of the publication, or if the editor was aware that the contents of the article were untrue.

Liability entails both penalties and damages. The publisher, who may presumably in this connection be identified with the proprietor, is liable for fines and damages incurred by the editor.

The new press law introduces no droit de response in the ordinary sense, but a droit de correction which in its present form marks an interesting new departure. The editor of a periodical is obliged to publish free of charge and without any alteration, a correction of any report on questions of fact which the periodical has given publicity, provided the correction is demanded by a person or persons who might suffer more than insignificant injury, financially or with regard to reputation, as a result of the published report. Should the editor refuse to print the correction requested, the injured party or parties may apply to a so-called Press Corrections Committee, created by the new law, to obtain a ruling on the question of whether the demand for publication of the correction is justified. This committee consists of 3 members. The chairman, who must be a judge of the Supreme Court, is appointed by the Minister of Justice; the two other members are appointed by the Minister of Justice on the recommendation of organizations representing the publishers and the journalists respectively. A special liability is incurred by failure to comply with the rulings of the Press Corrections Committee. The correction shall be printed in same type as used for the ordinary matter found in the publication and in a prominent place. Moreover, the right of the periodical to comment on the correction is limited to statements of actual facts.

#From the Office of the American Commercial Attaché, Copenhagen.

Finally, the new press law settles a much debated point by laying down the rule that anyone who inserts an advertisement in a periodical publication for payment shall be regarded as the named author of the advertisement so that the editor (and consequently the publisher) is relieved of responsibility with regard to the contents to the same extent as in the case of signed articles referred to above.

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The organization of the new taxation department, as a result of the new taxes to be imposed, for which L. E. 70,000 have been voted some months ago, is now being carried out. The heads of the various services have already been appointed and have been instructed to engage the required number of officials.

It is understood that for the easier assessment and collection of taxes, Egypt will be divided into 7 zones. The Cairo zone will be responsible for all taxes levied in the Galioubia Province, and the districts of Giza, Embaba and el Saff, while the Alexandria zone will include the Behera Province. A special school for officials working in the Taxation Department to follow courses of fiscal administration is to be opened shortly.

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An interesting case affecting the position of instalment (hirepurchase) finance companies in their relation to the British Moneylenders Act was recently decided in the Chancery Division of the British High Court, according to the Office of the American Commercial Attaché, London. This case, Transport and General Credit Corporation, Limited, v. Morgan and Others, raised for the first time the question as to whether house financing hire-purchase agreements were carrying on the business of moneylenders within the meaning of the Moneylenders Act 1900.

The case was a somewhat complicated one in which the plaintiffs, Transport and General Credit Corporation, Limited, were one of a group of companies engaged in hire-purchase financing, and claimed that they were entitled to a first charge on all agreements for hiring and/or hire-purchase deposited with the trustees under 2 trust deeds, and also on all money, goods and other property coming into the hands of the Receiver for the 2 defendant companies which had gone into liquidation. There were several defences put forward but the one arousing most general interest was that the transaction (namely, the financing of the instalment sales in question) was one of money lending and that the plaintiffs were for this purpose moneylenders, and that as the plaintiffs had not taken out a moneylender's license or complied with the other requirements of the Moneylenders Act, the securities were void. The Court decided in favor of the plaintiffs and in giving judgment the Lord Justice stated that the plaintiffs were not in his opinion carrying on the business of money lending. He added that hire-purchase agreements now occupied a very large part in the activities of ordinary social life and that the financiers and dealers were cooperating in a common business venture to make practicable the hire-purchase agreement as a necessary element in social life, and that the Moneylenders Act had nothing to do with the present case.

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